by Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press

by Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press

LANSING, Mich. - For more than 15 years, visitors to Oswald's Bear Ranch in Michigan's Upper Peninsula posed for photos feeding cereal to black bear cubs and sometimes sitting with a baby bear in their lap.

That stopped last summer when owner Dean Oswald was told the practice violated the law.

On Friday, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed changes to Michigan's Large Carnivore Act, including one that would have legalized the public handling of bear cubs at 36 weeks old - up from 20 weeks - at a handful of facilities around the state. But Snyder said in his veto letter that the bear cub piece of the two bills he vetoed is the one proposed amendment he supports.

Snyder encouraged lawmakers to send it to him as stand-alone legislation, which means the debate over bear cub photos is likely to continue.

The Humane Society of the United States said letting people handle captive bear cubs is bad for the bears and dangerous for the public.

But Oswald, who likens bear cubs to puppies, said he believes so strongly that it's safe for visitors to pose for pictures with cubs up to 9 months old that he doesn't make visitors sign a liability waiver at his ranch in Newberry, Mich.

"If I thought somebody was going to get hurt here, I wouldn't do it," said Oswald.

The bear cubs he rescues already were separated from their mothers through some crisis or misadventure, and human contact doesn't harm them, Oswald said. He said he has bottle-fed 27 of the 29 black bears that have come to his ranch.

Jill Fritz, Michigan state director of the Humane Society of the United States, said in written testimony to the House Agriculture Committee in November that "young cubs are capable of inflicting painful injuries, and by 9 months of age, a healthy black bear can weigh more than 65 pounds."

Fritz said it is "extremely stressful for bear cubs to be prematurely removed from the nurturing care of their mothers," where they may face "abusive and excessive handling." Fritz said changing the law probably would increase the number of bears in captivity and lead to "unwanted and potentially discarded adult bears."

Scott Carter, chief life sciences officer for the Detroit Zoological Society, which operates the Detroit Zoo, expressed similar concerns and said a 36-week-old bear is capable of harming someone.

Oswald said that although a few people have received minor scrapes after putting their hands in a bear cub's mouth, no one has been bitten during the time he has allowed the contact. Oswald said his son or another qualified person is always present to control the bear cub.

Since most cubs are born around January and his seasonal facility doesn't open until Memorial Day, the 20 weeks of bear cub handling allowed under federal regulations effectively shuts down all photo opportunities, he said.

"I think their track record is pretty good," said Sen. Tom Casperson, a Republican from Escanaba, Mich., who sponsored the bear cub legislation with Oswald in mind and said he would try to get it passed as a separate bill in early 2013.

Snyder supports bear-handling legislation because he feels enough precautions are in place, including trained handlers, to protect the public and the cubs, spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said Monday.

Snyder vetoed changes which would have expanded the Michigan facilities that could acquire and keep bears, tigers and other large carnivores to those accredited by the Zoological Association of America.

Currently, only facilities accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association - such as the Detroit Zoo and the Potter Park Zoo in Lansing - are eligible to acquire and keep large carnivores, though exceptions are made for animals acquired before Michigan passed a law in 2000.

Snyder said some proposed changes, such as expanding permission to keep large carnivores from exhibitors to breeders, "could lead to gaps in public health protection and animal welfare."